The Concept of Law

Class Hours:Tuesday 5:30-8:00 pm
Office: Ward 219A
Office Hours: M 5-6 pm; Tues 8-9 pm; WF 10-12 am
Phone: 885-2955 (Call anytime; you can leave a message if I am not in)

• Materials
• Course Description
• Requirements
• Grading
• Schedule and Readings



Course Description

This course addresses the philosophical question of the nature of law. The fundamental issues are what it means to say that a particular rule is law, the source of the authority of law, the relationship between law and morality, and the nature of the judicial decision. We will study classical and contemporary theories and the critiques of traditional approaches mounted by the critical legal studies movement, feminism, and critical race theory. 

Requirements

1. All students are expected to read the assigned materials carefully and to come to class prepared to discuss them.
2. Each student will write three papers on the SAME topic, to be selected in the sixth week of the semester. Each successive paper will build upon the previous one, responding to comments and criticisms. Papers must be submitted on the dates indicated on the syllabus.
3. There will be an optional take-home midterm. Undergraduates are advised, but not required, to take the midterm.
4. There will be a final exam.

Grading

• Attendance and participation - 10%
• Tests - 40% (if you take the midterm, it counts 20%)
• Paper #1 (3-5 pages) - 10%
• Paper #2 (10-12 pages) - 15%
• Paper #3 (15-20 pages) - 25%




Materials

• H.L.A. Hart, The Concept of Law (revised edition, 1994)
• R. Dworkin, Law's Empire
• Bartlett & Kennedy, eds., Feminist Legal Theory [FLT]
• Hutchinson, ed., Critical Legal Studies [CLS]
• Course packet (not yet available)


TENTATIVE SCHEDULE

Jan. 16

Introduction

• Fuller, "Problem of the Grudge Informer"

The Doctrine of Precedent

Jan. 23

• Handouts:
• Gender cases
• Kairys, Goldberg, Llewellyn

What is Law?

Jan.30

• Hart, ch. 1 (pp. 1-17)
• Reading Questions
• Dworkin, Ch. 1 (pp. 1-44)
• Marx, excerpts from The German Ideology [course packet]
• Wendy Williams, "The Equality Crisis: Some Reflections on Culture, Courts, and Feminism" [FLT, pp. 15-35]

Natural Law Theory

Feb. 6

Handout: What is a conceptual paper?
• Aquinas, Summa Theologica [course packet]
• Hart, ch. 8 (pp. 151-180)

Positivism

Feb. 13

• Austin, Province of Jurisprudence Determined [course packet]
• Hart, ch. 2-3 (pp. 18-48)
• Unger, "The Critical Legal Studies Movement" [CLS]

Feb. 20 TOPICS DUE

• Suggested Topics
• Hart, ch. 4 (pp. 49-76)
• Dworkin, ch. 2-3 (pp. 45-113)
• Michael M. v. Superior Court [course packet]
• Olsen, "Statutory Rape" [FLT, pp. 305-317]

Legal Realism

Feb. 27

• Hutcheson, "The Judgment Intuitive" [course packet]
• Frank, Law & the Modern Mind [course packet]
• Hart, ch. 7 (pp. 121-150)

Hart

Mar. 5 
PAPER #1 DUE 
Midterm questions distributed

• Hart, ch. 5 & 6 (pp. 77-120)

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Spring Break



Mar. 19 MIDTERM DUE

• West, "Jurisprudence & Gender" [FLT, pp. 201-234]

Dworkin

Mar. 26

• Dworkin, ch. 6 (pp. 176-224)

Apr. 2 PAPER #2 DUE

• Dworkin, ch. 7 (pp. 225-275)

Apr. 9

Critical Legal Studies

• Kennedy, "Form & Substance in Private Law Adjudication" [CLS]
• Altman, "Legal Realism, Critical Legal Studies & Dworkin" [course packet]

Feminism

Apr. 16
• Joan Williams, "Deconstructing Gender" [FLT, pp. 95-123]
• Angela Harris, "Race and Essentialism in Feminist Legal Theory" [FLT, pp. 235-262]

Critical Race Theory

Apr. 23 PAPER #3 DUE

• Patricia Williams, "On Being the Object of Property" [FLT, pp. 165-181]
• Alan Freeman, "Legitimizing Racial Discrimination Through Antidiscrimination Law: A Critical Review" [CLS]

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Apr. 30 Final Exam

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Comments or suggestions? E-mail me atdgolash@american.edu.